Ft. Yukon, Alaska
Standing in Two Worlds
by Pastor Bill Simmons
Fort Yukon, Alaska
reported by Rev. Bill Simmons while on sabbatical from Christ Memorial Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri
Fort Yukon is located at the northernmost bend in the Yukon River, eight miles above the Arctic Circle. It is in the Yukon Flats interior of Alaska 
where it is flat and quite arid and not accessible by road. The Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribe of the Kutchin Athabascan people are the indigenous residents of Fort Yukon. They maintain much of their native culture while at the same time embracing aspects of western culture. I describe them as a people living in two worlds. They rely on salmon and moose as staples for their diet, yet they drive ATV’s and watch cable television. Their limited roads are gravel, yet their airport is the busiest in the Alaskan interior. They encourage a “subsistence” (traditional) way of life, yet many of the young people leave the community for Fairbanks and beyond in search of a job and a future. They live with feet in both worlds.
Perhaps Fort Yukon is a picture of the dual citizenship that we have as Christians. As Christians we remember that this world is not our final destination, that we are also citizens of another country. “You do not belong to the world, “ Jesus says. “I have chosen you out of the world.” It’s easy to “lose the forest for the trees” and lose perspective. We do well to remember that we are temporary residents of this world, that our final destination is heaven. It will keep us focused on the task at hand: Telling everyone that in Jesus the kingdom of heaven has come.
We have grown in awe as we saw God’s handiwork in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. And we have grown in faith as we saw the Holy Spirit working in the lives of people who were very different from us in culture yet similar to us in their faith in the Lord Jesus. And that common faith bridged our differences and allowed us to part as friends in Christ.